Chronicles Of A Mercenary
by Deity of Insanity
Summary: Have you ever wondered what it takes for someone to become something as vile as a mercenary? What kind of events would lead to such a decision? Well here you will find one path to it and what consequences follow. It is not an easy decision but at some point, you have no choice. Here lies the origins of and tales of a mercenary. The Green Mercenary.
1. Chapter 1: A Beginning Of The End

_I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh and make no profit from this story._

_This story is a background story for a character I created for Xen Kenshin's "The Celestia vs The World: ATAD" but can be read as a stand alone. I do suggest checking out mentioned story however and the forum associated with it._

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**Chapter 1: A beginning of the end.**

A resounding crack, like that of a tree branch being snapped in half, could be heard through the street. Only four people were present to hear the onomatopoeia though. One lied unconscious with a visible red welt on his forehead. Two others were looming over the source of the loud sound which was the fourth person. He was crumpled up on the ground at the feet of the two standing.

"Nice kick Marty! Think you broke one of his ribs!" The one with spiky pink hair and cerulean colored eyes praised his cohort. Marty, who had amber eyes and a completely shaved head, smiled wickedly at his action. Both men plus their unconscious ally looked to be in their early twenties and wore matching mud brown leather jackets with black jeans. Shoe and undershirt colors varied.

The writhing male on the ground looked like he was only around fifteen years of age. His fiery red hair was unkempt and matted at various spots and it fell in front of his eyes while his head was facing down, like it was at this moment. He wore emerald colored clothing which consisted of a t-shirt, jeans, shoes, and a belt. All of which were tattered and riddled with holes and tears. The shoes were almost completely missing soles.

What led up to this situation was misunderstanding and foolishness from all parties involved. The three men, who were presumably a gang, saw the teenager and mistook the attire for that of a rebellious youngster and they figured there could be a quick score if they jumped the guy. They followed him a ways and finally down into an alley between two condemned apartment buildings. That should have been a clear sign to the three but they, specifically Marty, just shrugged it off as a curious teenager wandering around. With that thought in tow they attempted to rob the redhead but quickly realized their mistake.

Instead of a rebellious youngster the teenager who looked like a run of the mill street urchin turned out to be just that. Annoyed and frustrated at wasting time the three were going to leave the kid unscathed until one, Marty, saw a deck holder which meant the tall teen was a duelist. He figured if he could get the deck it would sell for enough so that his gang's whole endeavor wasn't a complete waste of time. Marty ordered his man with a black ponytail and eyes that matched his jacket to take the deck.

For the adolescent with jade green eyes who had no possessions but his deck, a deck he had to scrap together from random cards he managed to scavenge, this was an action he couldn't allow. He used his natural quickness and his learned street savviness to take out the older man by circling around him when ponytail lunged for him and then kicking him in the back of one knee to drop him to the other. The pale redhead then grabbed the thug's ponytail and slammed his head forward into an awaiting knee. This knocked the man out but left the teenager's back exposed to the other two, something they were quick to take advantage of.

So Marty and his other cohort jumped the ragged teen. The nameless one hit him in the back of the head while Marty started kicking him with his steel toed boots. Now after being knocked around on the ground more dirt covered the pale skin of the young man. "Yo Shawn, you think dis li'l punk has learned his lesson yet? 'Cause I got some more I could teach." Marty spoke to his partner Shawn with a twisted smile on his face.

"Oh, Emerald?" A new male voice suddenly came from the end of the alley. All Marty and Shawn could see at the current distance was that the new arrival was facing them, his clothing was mostly orange with some yellow, and his hands were tucked away inside his ripped up jeans. The shirt actually didn't have any holes or tears but it looked worn out, like it had been washed too many time and not with any detergent. "Yeah, no, he never really learns. Trust me, I've tried teaching him things." The male started walking forward at a methodical pace. "Like, for instance, he should always let me know when he gets into trouble."

The young man who could now be fully seen by Marty and Shawn, and who appeared to be around seventeen years old, stopped a couple feet away from the main scene which was centered on Marty, Shawn, and the prone male. He moved his head in an arc to view the entire are and his sea blue eyes fell upon the unconscious man. The blond gave a dry chuckle. "Well at least he did take one of you out. That's something."

"The li'l bastard caught Brutus by surprise is all." Marty responded in a cool tone. He made a motion to Shawn who nodded in response and started to circle around the unknown blonde. "Anyways kid, you with dis brat?"

Blue eyes followed Shawn, as much as humanely possible without having to move one's head, while the orange clad lad continued to face Marty. "That depends on what you mean by "with"." There were no signs, blatant or miniscule, that suggested the blonde was at unease or worried. "Are we friends? Yes. Are we family? In a sense. Are we dating? Definitely not. Does that cover it all?" Shawn was now behind the blonde and that's when the kid's height became apparent. Both Marty and Shawn gave triumphant smirks at each other over the golden head.

Shawn nodded to Marty to show he was ready to strike on command. "Cheeky piece of trash ain't you." It wasn't so much as a question as a statement. A few seconds of silence followed the sentence when both Marty and Shawn charged forward with their fists cocked back. Their opponent ducked however and the two ended up punching each other. Marty got knocked out while Shawn just stunned. Too stunned however to notice the blonde with a crew cut spinning around and delivering an uppercut that dropped Shawn away from his original position.

Making a disappointed sound, the near adult turned back around and walked to the teen that he earlier referred to as "Emerald". He extended his hand, the only one outside of its pocket and the same one that cold cocked Shawn, to "Emerald". "Can't seem to stay out of trouble can you Emerald."

"Hey, I didn' start it." The scrawny lad grabbed the outstretched hand and lifted himself off the ground, though with a loud and lengthy groan of pain. His breathing was shallow and he held the side that was repeatedly kicked by Marty. Shawn had said that a rib got broken but he was wrong. It was just a crack but that wasn't much better to him. "By the way, didn' I tell ya ta stop callin' me Emerald, Kannu."

Kannu shook his head to signify he didn't care. "First off, you have to address me as Pyro. Second, it's either Emerald or Green. It's your choice." "Pyro" shrugged his shoulders and put his hand back into his pocket. Looking around one last time he turned around and started to head back down the alley, in the direction he arrived at. "Emerald" had no choice but to follow his shorter friend, though not before kicking the awakening Brutus in the face, effectively sending him back to dream land. Also before leaving he stomped on Marty's face and spat on Shawn. He caught up to Kannu quickly with a smirk on his face, albeit a pained one.

"How about me real name Shannon? Or even me last name O'Haire?" Shannon questioned as they walked next to each other. The green garbed young man was beginning to pant as the pain in his rib cage intensified. Luckily for him they weren't too far from the place they stayed at. Soon their residence, a two story apartment building, arose in their vision to the left of them and that's where the two headed.

The building was just as ugly and rundown as most of the city's buildings. Actually this city was only comprised of such structures. In this particular building all of the second floor was inhabitable as most of the floor was missing. Half of the windows throughout the place were broken and chunks of walls were completely gone. It wasn't the idyllic place to live but for two poor orphans such as Shannon and Kannu it was the only option. Both had lived here since they were each toddlers, though not alone. Everyone that had once been with them left or died though. One good thing could be said of the place though; it's view of the ocean that surrounded the island was magnificent.

"Nope, Emerald it is. Now," Kannu opened the door to their place. Once inside he helped Shannon over to a mangy old couch that was located in their "living room" and had the younger male lie down. "What did those low life thugs want with you?" The tone of voice Kannu used was that of an older brother worried for his younger brother's health. Before Shannon got the chance to answer though, Kannu want into their kitchen to grab something for the two to eat.

Shannon patiently waited for Kannu to come back before answering, seeming he didn't want to raise his voice and stress his body. When the blonde did return he was carrying two halves of a common native bird, which the stockier male had caught himself. The redhead shifted so that he was partly laying and partly sitting and then took his half of the bird. "Well for some reason they thought I had money. When they found out I didn' they wanted me deck instead." Shannon told his friend in-between bites of the surprisingly sweet meat.

"Oh don't tell me you got your ass kicked over your crappy deck." Kannu groaned in frustration. He didn't care about being tactful right now. Right now was about teaching Shannon some sense. It appeared as though he had forgotten what he told those two thugs about Shannon and learning.

"All of your cards are random ones you found. You could make it back up! You don't even have enough to call it an official deck! It's not worth getting beaten up over."

"Yer a duelist to, you should be able ta understand." Both had learned how to duel at a young age seeming it was the only thing to distract two young boys from the hardships of life. They started collecting cards they found or worked for and built decks, but many times those decks were stolen and they were forced to restart their efforts. "Besides, I got me fortieth card this morning and I was not goin' ta let all me hard work be on vain again."

Kannu sighed in defeat at his friend's argument. He couldn't fault Shannon for his actions and he'd be a hypocrite if he chastised him given that the muscular blonde had done the same thing before. That's why he had his Fire deck still and it's why Shannon was able to keep his Reptile deck. Well that and Kannu's timely save. "Fine, I concede. What card did you get anyway?"

Shannon finished up his half of the bird, licked his fingers clean, and reached into his emerald deck holster. He pulled out a single monster card and handed it to Kannu who had just finished up his own bird half. Kannu silently took it and then stared at it for a couple seconds before quietly muttering, "Firestorm Prominence." The lanky teen didn't hear what his friend said and took back the card and placed it back into his deck at a random spot. "Good nab. Anyway, it's late now so let's turn it. Tomorrow we can test out your new deck." The blonde said with a yawn covered by the back of his hand.

"Aye, sounds good." Shannon agreed while putting his deck, in its holder, on the floor next to the couch he was on. He struggled back down into a lying position with sharp gasps of pain. _Oh this injury is goin' ta suck._ Shannon thought to himself. Kannu stayed until he was sure his friend was going to be good and then left to go to his bed in another room.

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The setting sun had now been replaced with the moon, it deigning to show the entirety of itself on this night. Waves crashed against the island but it wasn't enough to drown out the sounds of footsteps for Shannon. The concrete floor reverberated the sound into the couch and thus the redhead's ear and it eventually woke him up. He had to move a tangle of hair out of his eyes so that his vision wasn't clouded and once it was free of obstruction he saw the source of the commotion. It was a skulking human figure clad in black to try and hide itself.

"Hey, who the Hell are ya!?" Shannon shouted and, forgetting his injury, tried to jolt up only to slump back down in pain. The shout made the mysterious figure aware that a resident was now awake and made the use of stealth obsolete so the person dashed towards the couch. Shannon thought it was going to assault him so he closed his eyes and braced for the impact of a fist. Two seconds passed by when the stranger's footsteps were now in retreat and the redhead opened his eyes. At first relief flooded his mind until he noticed that his deck holder was missing.

After all of the trouble Shannon went through that day there was no way he was going to let some burglar steal the deck he worked hard to complete. Now ignoring the burning pain in his side, Shannon got up from the couch and stumbled after the petty thief.

While the pain from his injury attempted to slow down Shannon, adrenaline and naturally longer legs then the nighttime visitor offset it and got him caught up after just a few yards. Now the two were at the low railing that was constructed to prevent accidental fallings into the ocean below. It was about a twenty foot drop and not many had survived it. It wasn't taller because the island's government didn't feel that money should be wasted to protect the poorest city's population but that had to look like they were doing something. "Alright fella just give me me deck now and ya can walk away without incident." Shannon said slowly with one of his arms outstretched towards the cat burglar.

The would-be thief sighed angrily because they realized there was no easy way out of this situation. So they turned around slowly with their hands up in the air, the deck holder clenched in the right hand., and faced Shannon. "No, Emerald, I don't think I will."

Shannon's mouth was agape in shock. While the voice, build, and height all should have pointed out who it was he was in denial. But there was no denying the nickname. The thief could only be one person. And now that he was looking properly with the moon's rays as light, Shannon could see orange under the black jacket. "K-Kannu, why...why would you..?" His wavering voice was barely above that of a whisper.

"Why would I take your deck?" Kannu finished snidely. He opened the holder and took out a single card, the new monster Shannon got that morning. Now it made sense an a way. **Firestorm Prominence** was the last card Kannu needed to completely have his first, and best, Fire deck again. "I just wanted this. Personally couldn't care less about the others." With that he tossed the holder at Shannon's feet. Miraculously no card fell out. With the wind blowing the way it was right now any card loose would be blown away.

"But," Shannon still didn't fully understand why his friend, his brother in arms, would steal from him. "Ya could've just asked. I would've given it ta ya." Right when Shannon finished his sentence Kannu let out a derisive snort. He slowly approached his long time friend with a look of disgust on his face. When he reached him and looked up sea blue met jade as their eyes connected.

"That's the problem with you Emerald, you're too nice. You don't have the feral instinct it takes to survive in this dog-eat-dog world. Those three thugs back in that alley, you should have hurt them more. Took what they did to you and unleashed it on them ten-fold." Kannu spoke with a sneer on his features. Shannon had no idea where this was coming from. In all of their time together Kannu never once spoke or acted like this. But the angry blonde wasn't done. "You're weak. I should've realized it sooner. Left you and this city like the others. I _would _be out of this city if I hadn't been dumb and let you hold me back. Well that ends now!" These words weren't that of someone angry for an event that happened recently. No, they were of someone who held a grudge a long time until they finally exploded. Kannu looked down and noticed Shannon's green deck holder. He picked it up and studied it...then cocked his arm back while turning slightly to the ocean. "You're not even a good duelist!"

As Kannu's arm began its forward motion Shannon snapped out of the stupor that the rant from Kannu put him in. He grabbed Kannu's arm with both of his and a struggle started. "What's gotten inta ya?"

"Life has gotten into me!" Kannu shouted at Shannon as they both struggled. Kannu to end his friendship and ties with the redhead, Shannon to salvage what he remembered the blond as. Shannon had a height advantage but in terms of actual strength, Kannu won and he displayed that when he shoved Shannon off of him. The force of the push sent Shannon all the way back and the back of his legs hit the railing which caused him to lose balance. Jade eyes widened as Shannon teetered there for moments before the wind finished the job and pushed him over and into the large body of water below.

Kannu raced to the railing and peered over it but it was too far for his blue eyes to see anything like a body. With an unreadable expression set on his face, the blonde tossed the deck of his former and probably dead friend over the edge and into the water. "It's better this way Emerald." And with that Kannu walked away.

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The sun had been up for an hour now as an old man brought his wooden and hand crafted boat onto shore. He had just finished hauling in the night's nets and their catch while putting out the day's nets. As he crossed the beach to return to his shack something caught his eye. While walking closer he realized it was a body, and one still breathing at that. With strength and swiftness that should belong to someone half the man's age he hefted the scrawny, redhead onto his shoulders and continued to his shack.

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_Thank you for taking the time out of you life to read the first chapter of my story. Now I ask you take another minute to leave a helpful and insightful review. Saying "update soon" is not helpful, it is pointless. While I do appreciate that you like this story enough to want it updated quickly it will not have an impact on the speed in which it's updated. I do not own a computer myself so I can only type so often which means updates will not be speedy. However, I would like to know why you liked this chapter/ story or why you disliked it. Telling me this will better me as a writer._

_Now I wish you all a good day/afternoon/evening._


	2. Chapter 2: Middle Ground

**This is chapter 2 of Chronicles Of A Mercenary. I do not own Yugioh or gain money from work involving them.**

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"_No Kannu! Don't!" Both Shannon and Kannu were standing on a tall but narrow pillar. Flames surrounded Kannu, flickering in front of his face. Though his mouth was closed the smaller man's voice kept echoing around them while it repeated the words "WEAK" and "WORTHLESS". Suddenly flames shot forward from Kannu and pushed Shannon off the pillar. His body was smothered in flames as he twisted in midair to look at the cold, dark ocean quickly approaching him. _"NOOOO!" Shannon snapped up in a sitting position which caused a rag that was lying on his forehead to fall into his lap, which was covered by a light black blanket. He paid no mind to the cloth though as he grabbed his side in pain and fell back into the firm bed he was resting on with his eyes shut tight.

The only other person in the room, the man with smoky gray hair tied into a ponytail, who was moving about the room, mostly ignored the panting and injured teen. Shannon slowly reopened one jade colored eye to look around the room. The elder man, who Shannon could see was very lanky, even more so than himself, caught his eye but said nothing. Instead he walked over to the youngster and picked up the rag and threw it back onto forehead, paying no heed to the red hair underneath.

A few minutes passed with the older gentleman going back to his own business around the cabin before Shannon's previously intense pain subsided to a manageable dull throb. "Excuse me sir, but I'm a little confused." The man stopped next to a window and looked out it but didn't reply or move further. When he did move it was just to take a steaming kettle off a small fire in the middle of the room.

After pouring the liquid from the kettle into two mugs the man walked back over to Shannon. He sat down in a wooden chair next to the bed while offering one mug to his guest, which the red head accepted graciously and with a quick "thank you". The man took a sip and smacked his lips afterwards. "Ah, a spot o' tea always feels right good." His voice was strong and solid, without any hitch or wheeze. "Now boy, you had some questions, but I must admit I have my own. What say we each ask, mm, three eh?"

Shannon removed the rag and sat up slowly as to not aggravate his rib injury and drank some of the given tea, which he was pleased to find out was heavily sweetened. At the gentleman's offer he bobbed his red head slightly, which didn't cause his hair to move as it was stuck to his face. "Aye, I guess that sounds fair. I would most like to know how'd I get 'ere and where 'ere is?"

"Yes natural questions given these odd circumstances, what with waking up in some strange old man's bed. Those do count as two though." Shannon nodded in agreement so the old timer continued. "Somehow you washed up on the beach shore, in the spot where I traverse to do my fishing, and I carried you here. Here being my cabin. Had this place for a few years now, built it myself." The words quickly sunk in and Shannon nodded to show he understood. He opened his mouth to use his third question but the aged man cut him off. "I do believe it's my turn wouldn't you say? What transpired to end up making you wash up unconscious on a beach?"

Shannon took his time before answering, drinking his tea to buy the time. While doing so he let his jade eyes look over the man. The man had his gray ponytail drawn behind him, which brought the details of his face. It was a hard, battle-worn face, like that of a retired soldier. Lines crisscrossed all over, showing age and experience. The eyes were sunken and were a gray blue that, like the rest of him, showed off a certain hardness, especially when they were trained on you. A scratchy patch of gray covered the chin. Below the head and neck was a tight, sleeveless white shirt. Muscles were clear on the chest and arms, obviously kept in shape through whatever tasks this man did out here. Finishing off the appearance was a pair of black pants covering long legs and brown sandals on the feet.

While half of his mind took in these features, the other half was recollecting the previous day's, or whenever it was, events. The image of his altercation with his former friend, his former brother, Kannu, was still fresh and clear. Over and over a video of the moment he got pushed over the railing replayed in his mind. Then the dream he just had came into focus and Shannon winced at it.

The elder gentleman was patient with his young guest but as he finished the tea and saw nothing but dregs left he considered restating the question but was spared that action when the scrawny teen spoke up. "Me and a close friend had a fallin' out. It ended with me getting pushed over a railing." Shannon's voice was even toned and his head was downcast so the man didn't know and couldn't see what the youngster was feeling.

"Must have been something serious to break up a pair of close friends." The gray haired man said it as a statement and didn't mean to receive an answer but Shannon shrugged anyway. In truth it started over a single Duel Monster's card, but the the emerald clothed teen knew it ran deeper than that. How far and why he couldn't say though.

Once the thought of Duel Monsters entered his thoughts though, Shannon focused on it and remembered his deck. Right before losing consciousness while in the water he saw his cards floating down to him from above. "Did ya find any of me cards when I washed up?" It was his third question but to the duelist who almost died over his cards, it was the most important one he could ask.

"Well...yes." The man replied hesitantly. When an eyebrow of Shannon's raised in confusion he put a long fingered hand on the juvenile's shoulder and said, "But they suffered too much water damage. It's not possible to use them again." The look that washed over Shannon's pale face was of pure despair. "Good news is though that your cards were common, common enough for me to have copies of each anyway, if you're interested."

Shannon looked at the man, trying to hide and keep back any emotion from appearing on his expression. It had taken nearly a year to gather all of the cards he had lost. An opportunity to get them back quickly was impassable but had to be proven real. "Really? What's the catch?"

The old man nodded and placed his empty mug on a table behind the chair. "Yes really. And yes, I suppose you could consider the return work to be a catch. You'll have to work for them, one a day, by helping me with chores around the cabin and other such matters. Still interested?" When Shannon nodded his head vigorously he got up from the chair and stretched. "Good, you'll start once you've fully healed up. Oh, and I guess we can do this three question a day deal as well, but I won't give out my name nor will I ask yours. Now, finish that tea." After saying this, he left the cabin to do, whatever. Shannon did as instructed though and finished the almost cold tea before putting the mug on the floor as he lied back down to rest some more.

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"We do apologize but we have run out of time for questions. Thank you all for coming out here and have a splendid afternoon." This was said by the President and CEO of Inland Dueling Tech, who left the podium immediately after, despite the numerous reporters who were shouting each other's questions down with their own. While leaving he silently motioned to a dapper young man decked out in an orange and yellow suit to follow himself.

The blonde young man quickly fell into step with the bald man clothed in an all black suit and red tie. "Mr. Holloway I must again say how thankful I am for you sponsoring me in the upcoming tournament." The head covered in sleek blonde hair bowed in gratitude as its owner expressed his thanks.

"Don't thank me Kannu, thank Mr. Kenning. He vouched for you." Holloway didn't even look at Kannu while speaking as he was busy nodding to various people that the two passed while exiting the building. The two walked to an impressive stretched limousine and a driver opened up the door when he saw Mr. Holloway approaching. Before getting in, the President and CEO turned to his latest sponsored duelist and said, "Speaking of Frank, he mentioned that he wanted to see you." Kannu nodded and his sponsor got into the vehicle which quickly sped off.

Kannu meanwhile turned 180 degrees and went back into the building he just came out of. Instead of walking straight this time though, which would lead back to the stage, he made his short legs bank a left halfway through, towards the private dressing rooms. The blonde turned his head to read each name plaque on each door until he found the one labeled "Frank Kenning- Duelist". After two minutes of inconsistent knocking, Kannu entered the room.

The door made no noise as it opened and brushed the fuzzy, velvet colored carpet. The first thing you saw when entering the room were pictures of a raven haired duelist against the brick red walls, many of which had the duelist posing after victories. Inside the room and under the pictures/posters was a table that went around the entire squared room without breaking apart, except at the door. The left side had a mirror above it with a medium sized brown kit that was presumably filled with cosmetics. The middle side had tons of Duel Monsters cards arrayed together in different groups. The side with the door had a lamp with stacks of papers underneath it. The right side just had a group of pillows with the person featured from the posters resting his head on them.

"Yo, Frank!" A small smirk popped onto Kannu's face when Frank fell out of his chair and landed side first onto the soft floor. The man quickly hopped back up and sent a pointed glare with his murky brown eyes towards Kannu. Kannu's own sea-blue eyes held nothing but amusement.

Frank gave a comical look around his dressing room before straightening his white suit. He gave another glare at Kannu before beaming and opening out his arms. Kannu smiled widely, showing off all of his front teeth in the smile, and approached Frank, stopping right in front of the man so the two could hug. "Ah Pyro, it's been too long. Too, too long."

"And who's fault is that?" Kannu asked. The words seemed harsh but the way they were delivered seemed anything but. "You never came back after you made it big." The way these two duelists spoke to each other made it clear that they knew each other from some time ago.

Frank broke the hug but moved his arms back only far enough so that they were on the stockier one's shoulders. "I am sorry about that. I wanted to, but I just never had the time. You'll find you won't either. It's why no one else visited either. I did miss you and Emerald." Looking into the sea-blue eyes of Kannu showed sadness but it was one that Frank couldn't identify the cause of, though it made it abundantly obvious that the subject should be changed. "I didn't call you in for nostalgia though Pyro, this meeting as it were is about business." The raven haired duelist said while dropping his arms to rest by his white pants.

The blonde nodded his head and set his expression to a serious one. "Alright then. Go on." This was what Kannu had been waiting for. This was his first step towards a bright future of competitive dueling. No more thinking about the past or anything from it, just the future from now on.

"First off, you can't go by Pyro anymore. The name gives off the impression of a gimmick, and gimmicks don't last long at this stage. They're for jobbers, which I won't let you be." Kannu wasn't thrilled by this news but he could accept dropping his nickname. This was time to shed his past after all. "Next on the agenda is your deck. Generic themes like FIRE won't win many duels with all the different styles out there. So-"

"Now hold on," Kannu cut Frank off and put his hand up to make sure the elder knew he wanted to get his opinion in. "I don't mind dropping my nickname. I don't mind changing my image." Kannu motioned to the yellow and orange suit he was currently wearing and his heavily combed back hair that had "products" in it to make it look sleeked. "But getting rid of my deck? That I do-"

This time Frank cut Kannu off, but not by saying anything or by hand gestures. He cut the shorter male off by chuckling loudly. "There's the fiery attitude and hot headedness I remember. Kannu, I never said get rid of the deck. I just said change the theme. Still chuckling, softly now, he put a hand into his white suit jacket pocket and pulled out a handful of cards. "These are **Inpachi**, a FIRE attribute monster set. A few spells and traps, even a couple extra monsters, have been made for them recently." Frank then held out the cards to Kannu.

Now Kannu felt like a complete idiot. Frank knew his old friend to have a quick temper though and this little outburst was nothing compared to some from the old days. To reassure Kannu, Frank gave a wide, welcoming smile, which the blonde reciprocated while taking the cards through a handshake. "Thanks Frank."

"Hey, what are old friends for?" Frank said with a nonchalant wave of his hand before adding, "Just do me a favor and win?" That made them both laugh, though Kannu didn't seem to be as into is as Frank.

* * *

The sun was just beginning to set as Shannon walked up the beach from the shore with a closed net full of fish in his arms. In the forty-five days he had been here, Shannon had definitely added some muscle to his previously scrawny frame. Not enough to be mistaken for a bodybuilder, but enough so that he didn't look like a red headed skeleton anymore. Though he was still surprisingly pale. Before reaching the cabin he turned around to look at the spectacular scene behind him. The sun going down behind the ocean, casting a reddish light on the gently lapping blue water with an occasional fish jumping out and back in to create a small splash. Such a sight never got old.

"Even after years on this beach, even before my cabin was finished, that image is still beautiful." Said someone from behind Shannon, who he instantly recognized to be the old man. True to what he said the very first day, the old man never revealed his name nor did he question Shannon about his, though Shannon never asked nor did he reveal his, out of respect. The elder gentleman just called him Green Pup, and Shannon him Old Dog.

"'Ere's today's catch." Shannon said while handing over the filled net to Old Dog who took it with one hand and slung it over his bare shoulder. The other hand dug into his pair of faded blue jeans and pulled out a card which he handed to Green Pup. And now, that was it, that was the 39th card. Shannon took it and placed it into his deck holster located on his belt. "Thanks fer e'rything. I'll head out in the morn if it's okay with ya."

"Don't you want the last card?" The old man asked while raising his eyebrows. From the same pocket the other card was in a 40th card was pulled out. "You can't duel with just 39 cards." Was his response to Shannon's questioning look. "And yes, I am quite sure."

Shannon took the card without looking at it. Never did he plan on getting the 40th card, not here anyway. It was unexpected, but oh so welcomed. It didn't even matter what card it was, could be a **Basic Insect** for all he cared. "Thank ya Old Dog."

The old man nodded and said, "Wait here." Without explaining any further he turned around and went up to and inside the cabin. The wait wasn't long before he came without the brown trout filled net. Instead, slung around his shoulder was a brown bag filled with...something. Once back in front of his cabin guest, Old Dog answered the unasked question, "Two duel disks, for us to test your deck. If your up for a duel anyway." Though the elderly gentleman already knew the answer, so he slid the bag off and took out the two duel disks. Tossing one to Shannon he said, "They're programmed to adapt to any wrist size. Once you get it on press the yellow button on the side."

Shannon slid his arm into the hole and the disk automatically adjusted to fit snugly around his slim wrist/forearm. After that he went ahead and pressed the mentioned button, which temporarily blinded him when the entire disk lit up, creating a bright little beacon on the beach in the the after dusk dark. His jade eyes slowly regained their sight and when they did he saw Old Dog standing a few feet away with his own duel disk already lit up. He nodded to Green Pup and they each took out their decks and placed them in their respective deck slots, which automatically shuffled them. "I think you should make the first move Green Pup." The old man told Shannon.

With a nod Shannon drew his five starting cards, then a sixth for his Draw Phase. He started his first Main Phase with a monster summon. "I bring out **Armored Lizard **(1500 atk/1200 def) in attack mode." After placing down the card a hologram materialized in front of Shannon. The image showed a green lizard, standing up on two feet, covered entirely, except for the joints, in blue armor. Its orange eyes looked over at Shannon's, and thus its', opponent and let out an animalistic shout. Its owner stared at the creature in awe, having never seen a monster hologram in real life before this was a huge moment. He shook his head though and concentrated back on the duel. "I place one card face-down and end me turn." A face-down card hologram appeared behind the reptile and then Old Dog's duel disk made a beeping sound to signal the change in turns.

The old man smirked slightly before drawing a card. "A decent enough start but it could have been much better. I won't critique you though, just show you how." He placed down a monster card but at first no hologram appeared. Then a loud screech came from above in the sky and when the two duelists looked up a silver mechanized bird dive bombed to the ground. Just a few feet away from crashing it pulled out of the dive and soared over to Old Dog where it landed on his shoulders. Now that it was still you could see it had laser red eyes and exposed bronze wiring in some areas, as well as a turbo engine built into its back. "This is **Biofalcon **(1700/1200), who will attack your **Armored Lizard**." The engine on the bio enhanced falcon's back started to roar and without warning the metal bird shot forward at the armored reptile and dug its steel talons into it before ripping it apart with its mechanized beak. The lizard tore into pixels and Shannon's lifepoints dropped by 200. "In my second Main Phase I'll set two face-downs and end this productive turn."

This was the first duel Shannon had in a couple years, so it was safe to say he was a bit rusty. Placing that mediocre monster in attack mode for his first turn however was a complete mistake, one he would assuredly learn from. "Me turn then, I draw." After drawing, Green Pup studied the five cards in his hand and then surveyed the field. "Alright then, I summon me monster known as **Lion Alligator **(1900/200)." A big green alligator crawled up from behind Shannon. It had blank yellow eyes that stared at Old Dog, a bright orange mane like a lion's, and white spikes going down its back, tail, and legs. "It'll attack yer **Biofalcon**." The lion/alligator hybrid sniffed the air and its head then snapped to the metal bird's position, who instantly took flight. It circled the air before foolishly dive bombing the reptile who dodged with astonishing speed and drew back on its haunches before pouncing on the bird, snapping its giant and strong maw around it. But instead of snapping the machine in half, **Lion Alligator**'s razor sharp teeth shattered.

"I just activated a face-down trap while you recklessly charged into battle." Shannon looked over at Old Dog who had a revealed trap in front of him. He then looked back at the monster brawl to see **Biofalcon** with a reinforced set of metal around the previous set. This added durability as well as covered the previously exposed parts. "Thanks to the continuous trap **Rare Metalmorph** my bird gains 500 attack. So, your monster is actually the one getting destroyed." And that's what happened as the bird viciously ripped into the reptile's soft underbelly with its newly strengthened talons.

Shannon grimaced when his monster exploded into pixels and he lost another 300 lifepoints, which brought him down to 3500. "It's me second Main Phase, so I use me face-down **Jar Of Greed** to draw a card. Then I'm going ta place two face-down ta finish."

The old man drew his card and added it to his hand, making his hand total four cards. "First, I activate a continuous spell called **Second Coin Toss**. Next I'll summon **Twin-Barrel Dragon **(1700/200)." A blue and silver standing dragon shaped machine materialized, its double barreled magnum shaped head pointed straight at Shannon's face-downs. "This monster's effect activates when summoned. A coin is flipped twice, if both results are heads your...left card will be obliterated." After the explanation a coin appeared in between the two duelists and flipped itself. Both flips ended up being heads, so Old Dog didn't even need to use his spell. The left face-down of Shannon's was destroyed when the gun dragon cocked its head and fired both barrels simultaneously. "Now because you have no monsters, mine will attack you directly."

"Hold on, I have me own trap." Shannon said while activating his remaining face-down. A giant **Judge Man** appeared in front of Old Dog with a gold waraxe in its right hand and a plain woodcutter's axe in the left. "Thanks ta this **Half Or Nothing** ya have ta decide whether ta end yer Battle Phase or cut yer monster's attack in half fer this phase."

"Guess I'll cut the attacks." The **Judge Man** turned around while swinging the woodcutter's axe which hit **Biofalcon** and **Twin-Barrel Dragon**. "Instead of the 3900 damage you would have taken, you'll just take 1950 which puts you down to 1550 lifepoints. Nice survival tactic. I'll end my turn." The **Judge Man** disappeared and both of Old Dog's monster's attacks went back to normal.

Shannon bit his lip as he drew his card. If he didn't do something fast, as in this turn, he was going to lose this duel, and very badly at that. None of his cards could turn it around on their own, though he didn't recognize the card he just drew. "Wait, that must be the one Old Dog gave me fer free. Let's see..." Shannon quickly read through the monster's abilities and smirked at what it said. "Alright, time fer a turnaround. First I'll summon **Yormungarde **(1200/900)." Waves started to thrash in the ocean, which was to Shannon's right. After a low roar from under the water's depths out popped four feet of an eye and noseless sea serpent like monster.

Old Dog raised a single gray eyebrow at this move. Summoning such a weak monster was pointless, unless Green Pup was going to summon his new monster. If that was the case this could get interesting. "He really could be what I need." He mumbled to himself, out of hearing range of Shannon.

"Now I remove from play the two Reptiles in me grave and the one currently on me field to special summon **Evil Dragon Ananta **(?/?)." **Yormungarde **disappeared as quickly as it appeared. Replacing it however was a terrifying creature. Slithering out of the darkness behind Shannon was a giant snake like body that filled into a blue metal chest piece that had a face with fangs, and a spike on each side of the plate. Popping out of the chest piece and wriggling around each other was a total of seven snakes, each one roughly three feet long with a metal plate on their heads, except for the middle one. The middle one was five feet long and was reddish where the others were tan. It had yellow spike on its head that went into a red neck piece and then a black multi piece armor all down the top of its body. "Its attack equals the number of monsters I removed times 600. So that equals 1800. Enough ta take out yer **Twin-Barrel Dragon**." The seven headed beast hissed in unison before the heads struck forward at once and each captured a piece of the gun dragon. They fought over the machine and ended up tearing it apart, each head swallowing the piece it got. Shannon smirked as the old man's lifepoints dropped to 3900.

"Well thanks to **Biofalcon **I can add a monster from my deck to my hand with less then 1000 attack." A card popped out of Old Dog's deck slot and he added it to his hand. He had actually planned his strategy for this moment, his next turn he'd unleash it.

"That's fine. I'll just end me turn. Oh and **Ananta** has a neat effect. During me End Phase I have ta destroy a card. I'll be choosing yer **Biofalcon**." Instead of all seven heads snapping forward just the middle one did. It easily caught the falcon before it could fly off too far and the snake swallowed the machine bird whole. Then it positioned itself back with the other six wriggling heads.

The old man had a thin, unnoticeable smile on the whole time Green Pup was taking out his machines. There was no doubt this kid was what he wanted for his goal, but first he had to show the pup why he was an old dog. "Alright chap, it's time we ended this duel spar. I'll draw, and first I'll activate my spell **Magnet Circle LV2**." A giant metal platform raised in front of Old Dog and electricity started to shoot down from the upper contraption, which looked like a teleportation tube. The electricity caused the floor of the platform to start lighting up. It became so bright that neither duelist could see the floor anymore. Soon after the light dispersed and inside the previously glowing circle was a small red spider with blue lines and blue spikes going down its back with steel claws on its legs. Both its eyes and its pincers were also blue. "This is my **Karakuri Spider **(400/500), which was just summoned from my hand. Now I will also normal summon my **Mechanical Snail **(800/1000)." A purple shelled snail with yellow arms and legs appeared next to the small spider.

Old Dog still had a card left in his hand and one face-down on the field but those two monster were so weak that Shannon wasn't worried. "A snail and a spider? I don't think they can stand up to mine reptile."

"Well we'll see. I activate my face-down **Limiter Removal** to boost my monster's attack by double." A speedometer appeared behind the two monsters and the red line hit all the way to its max speed, which powered up the snail to 1600 attack and the spider to 800 attack. "And now my **Karakuri Spider** attacks your **Evil Dragon Ananta**." The little arachnid scurried over to the giant menacing monster and bit its tail with the blue pincers. The reptile simply swatted away the insect which shattered the machine.

"I don't get it..." Shannon said aloud as he watched Old Dog's lifepoints drop by 1000 to 2900. Green Pup soon turned his attention to his monster though when it started making hacking and coughing sounds, and its color soon turned a sickly hue. After bouts of coughing each head fell off, which left a headless body that simply keeled over and disintegrated into pixels.

"After damage calculation, any DARK monster my **Spider** battles is automatically destroyed. Shannon was speechless and in pure shock. His giant and mighty **Ananta** was taken down by such a puny little spider. And that wasn't even all. "Now my **Mechanical Snail** can and will attack you directly to end the duel." It took about a minute for the snail to reach Shannon, which just made it worse. When it did all it took was one slash to drop Green Pup's lifepoints to zero.

All the holograms disappeared and Shannon was left flabbergasted at how the duel ended. It never even crossed his mind that it could've been a set-up by Old Dog to test his skill. Old Dog shut off his duel disk and walked up to Green Pup. "Not bad. You have some real potential. There's something I want to show you...in the morning."

Shannon looked up at the old man, barely visible even from his duel disk's light. He had completely forgotten how intimidating the old timer could look but this scene quickly reminded him. The gray of his hair matched with his muscle mass made him appear fearsome, like an aged gladiator. "Oh, aye, sure." It wasn't like he was going to just say no the person who had been taking care of him, whether he looked scary or not.

"Alright then. Get some sleep. Tomorrow will be a long day." Old Dog nodded and went back to the cabin. Shannon followed while turning off the duel disk he had been using and wondering just what would happen the following day.

* * *

"Ya can't be serious..." Shannon said loudly as he started over the edge of a steep cliff. There were sharp rock formations all the way down and at the bottom, just waiting to impale someone. And if it didn't kill you quickly enough then you would be locked in place to drown under the turbulent waves.

"What I need to show you is in a cave down there. The only way to get down there...and live, is to climb." Old Dog responded while he took off his ripped gray shirt and stuffed it into a black backpack. His regular pants were already in is as he had on a pair of black swim trunks, no shoes or sandals were with him.

Shannon wore a forest green shirt that had the sleeves cut off, and green full length pants, though he also wore no shoes. "Yer crazy! Yer insane! What could possible be down there that's worth risking our lives?!"

Old Dog rubbed his chin, who's scruffy beard was now thicker and becoming more white than gray, as contemplated what exactly to say. Obviously the truth, but how much should be known was the question. "Suppose I should tell you the story. But first, do you know St. Patrick was?"

Nodding his head Shannon said, "Aye, he's a prominent figure in Irish history. Even street urchins like me know who he is." Green Pup barely resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

"I'm sure you do, at least, the public version anyway." The old man chuckled when Green Pup gave him a quizzical look. "You see, St. Patrick wasn't actually much of a Saint. In my former profession we learned about Patrick, the _real _Patrick."

"What was yer former profession?" Shannon asked. This was the first time Old Dog really mentioned his past so now was the perfect time to get some insider knowledge.

"Well, first I was in the British army. Actually fought in the Ireland/England war. But after we won, well, the same thing that always happens after a war happened. We weren't needed any longer, so a bunch of us got discharged. I needed to find work but my only job skill was killing people, and not a lot of jobs look at that as useful skill. But some people, local street thugs, found out about me and hired me to take out some rival street gang or something. I did and that started a life as a mercenary."

Shannon stayed quiet during and after Old Dog talked. He'd never met a mercenary before. The thought of one never even crossed his mind before. All he wanted before was to be Duel Monsters champion. But now that this profession came to light, it sounded cool. And if Old Dog actually was one, he could teach Shannon some useful skills. Skills that could help achieve a recent goal he acquired. "So wait, yer sayin' that St. Patrick was a mercenary?"

Old Dog nodded his head briefly. "Among other things, yes. You see the story of him ridding this country of snakes is only partially true. He didn't drive them off the isle or kill them, no, Patrick somehow managed to control them. He used them to carry out many of his contracts. No one but mercenaries learn this tale, and most don't even believe it."

Green Pup absorbed all this information in. He was sure that Old Dog wouldn't just make this up, and he was sure that the old man believed it. But that didn't make the fable true. "So, how do mercenaries learn this tale, and why do ya believe it?"

"There's an open contract out there that says to break into St. Patrick's tomb, and that the reward is inside it. And I believe this because during the war a ship I was on crashed, and I ended up washed up on the cave underneath us, _the_ cave." The former mercenary pointed over the cliff while speaking. "It's blocked off after a certain point but there's a message. The first part is in common English, but the rest is in an ancient Irish dialect that only a true Irishman can read." Old Dog placed a hand on Green Pup's shoulder and smiled. "Ready to go down there and split the reward?" Shannon smiled back and nodded enthusiastically. "Alright then." Releasing the teen, Old Dog climbed over the cliff and began his descent to the cave, followed by the Irishman.

* * *

**So there was a duel. Yay. Leave a constructive review and tell me what you think. And if you want to see my character when he's, well, a mercenary check Xen Kenshin**'s **story The Celestia vs The World: ATAD.**


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